


Project Sirius

by realpieceofwork



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Gen, Hogwarts, Marauders, Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24286117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realpieceofwork/pseuds/realpieceofwork
Summary: Sirius takes James and Remus into the future to see if their teachers are still kicking. They don't expect to meet James' son right away and learn all that they learn about their future.
Kudos: 110





	Project Sirius

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Time Turned Back](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4340120) by [TaraSoleil](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaraSoleil/pseuds/TaraSoleil). 



_“Moony, Do you know how to travel in time?”_

_“My dearest Pads, I sincerely hope you are well and healthy. How’s Prongs treating you? I’m doing better, thank you for asking. Some days are harder without your noble company to keep me sane, but I fare well. On the matters of your question, I would like to kindly ask you what the bloody hell? Yours sincerely, Moony.”_

_“Moony, I’m sorry for not asking after you. You know I care. Answer the bloody question.”_

_“My dearest Pads, No, I’m sorry, I honestly thought you could handle letters as letters and write a welcome, detail your subject and goodbyes. Obviously, I overestimated your abilities to write anything above passing notes in class. To answer your question: NO! Don’t even think about it! Yours sincerely, Moony.”_

_“Moony, we’ll see you in a month. As long as you keep breathing, it’s like a long weekend where we don’t cross paths. So no, I won’t write as if we won’t see each other again. Fuck off, Pads.”_

_“My dearest Pads, I agree, fuck off. Yours sincerely, Moony.”_

“What’re you smiling about?” James asked as he passed a couple before joining Sirius on their other side. His owl screeched, which drew some attention, but King’s Cross’ staff was familiar enough – and charmed enough – to ignore it.

“Can’t wait to see Moony, don’t you?” Sirius asked, excited. “My summer project is finally done.”

“Oh, yeah, the Project,” James rolled his eyes. He knew nothing about Sirius’ project, only that he kept it locked in his room at the Potter house and locked the door on it when he left for any amount of time.

“Can’t wait to share with you lot. It’s going to be the best thing ever.”

“Oh, so it’s for us too?” James asked, raising thin eyebrows. Sirius just grinned in answer before running through the wall.

\--- 2 weeks later ---

They’ve barely missed colliding with the boy who marched out of the Great Hall. He looked angry and upset, and all the Marauders could do was to watch for a moment—and they could, only for a moment, because in the next, someone harshly shouldered into Remus as two more Gryffindors stormed out of the Hall.

“Sorry, mate!” The redhead who bumped into Remus said hurriedly as he didn’t even stop but followed the young woman after the first boy.

“Harry Potter if you don’t stop in this instant, I’m sticking you to the wall!” Threw out the young witch who hurried after the first boy. To that, the Marauders looked at each other, eyes wide and shocked. A silent conversation took place and as one person the three ran after the previous trio. They barely caught up with them when Remus threw out his arm and pushed his two friends behind a column.

“Bloody hell, Moony, what—” Before James could continue, Remus hushed him and looked out from behind the column. The other two looked at each other then positioned themselves behind him to do the same. The boy now was turned to face them, and his face caused a sharp intake from the trio. Yeah, they haven’t heard wrong.

“That’s freaky,” Sirius shuddered as he looked over the young man who was glaring at his friends with fire in his eyes. “That’s your son, alright, Prongs.”

“Shush.” Remus hissed, just as the other trio started talking.

“Are you alright?” The girl asked, sounding worried.

“Just great,” James’ son – Harry – answered with as much sarcasm as he could muster.

“What did Madam Pomphrey say, the hex—”

“I’m fine.”

“What spell did Malfoy throw at you anyways—” started the third, the redhead who bumped into Remus previously. Malfoy? The Marauders looked at each other before turning back to the scene.

“It doesn’t matter, Ron, leave it, would you?” Harry spat, and almost turned before the witch caught his arm.

“You can’t do this, Harry. You keep pushing us away since—”

“Since?” Harry asked, almost too quiet for the Marauders to hear. “Say it, Hermione. Since I got Sirius killed?” All three Marauders took in a sharp breath and looked at Sirius, who looked lost, but shrugged, turning back to the trio.

“That’s not true and you know it.” The young witch – Hermione – said sharply.

“Right.” Harry snorted. “Because that didn’t almost get all of us, half of the Order, _Remus_ killed.” Now it was Remus’ turn to be stared at but he shrugged the same as Sirius before.

“He doesn’t blame you.” Hermione seemed very sure about it.

“How would I know? He hardly looked at me since, and—Never mind.” Harry shook his head quietly.

“Look. I know how you feel.” The redhead spoke the first time since they caught up with James’ son. “I felt the same when Pettigrew—” Peter? The Marauders looked at each other again.

“That’s not the bloody same!” Harry shouted for the whole castle to hear. “Pettigrew didn’t kill—”

“But he did!” Hermione argued. More eyebrows were raised behind the column. Wormtail killing anyone? As if.

“Right, but Ron was a toddler. He couldn’t prevent it. It’s not his fault. This? This _is_ mine. Don’t even argue Hermione, you’re smart enough to know I’m right.”

“Fine. You wanted everyone to be mad at you, here you are. You were _stupid_. You were a bloody idiot to believe Him, you ran head-first into danger without even thinking. You should know better by now. You could’ve got killed. But you know what? That’s the only thing I’m mad about. Sirius? I’m not mad at you for it. I’m mad at _him_. _He_ decided to run after you, _he_ decided your life was worth more than his. It’s _his_ fault that he’s dead.”

“And Bellatrix’s,” Added Ron, seemingly with newfound confidence. “She was the one who threw the curse.”

“It’s not your fault, Harry.”

“Right.” Harry snorted, looking away. The Marauders quickly pulled back so they couldn’t be easily seen. “Nothing ever is.”

“That’s not what I said—”

“You’re just like everyone. The-Boy-Who-Lived, our great symbol and hope, that’s all you see. You don’t see how I bloody don’t know what the Hell I’m doing.” The slap was somewhat expected, but the sound still rang out incredibly loud, and all the boys cringed in sympathy.

“Don’t you dare talk to me like that!” She cried. “Don’t you dare talk to me as if I wasn’t the one who helped you through first year, or when we fought a bloody Basilisk! Like Moony chasing us never happened!” The Marauders looked at each other in terror, but the witch kept going. “Like I wasn’t the one next to you when Ron was too jealous—”

“Oi!”

“Shut it, you know you were!”

“No need going around pointing it out like that!” The witch just shook her head at the redhead before turning back to Harry.

“I was there,” she continued with newfound calmness, “when nobody believed you that He was back. I was there when Umbridge tried to destroy the Army. So, don’t you dare say I don’t know just how much you struggle to keep your head above water.” She winded down and the Marauders could only watch in silenced shock.

“Everyone I love dies, Hermione,” Harry’s voice cracked.

“We’re not dead, are we?” asked Ron with an air of arrogance that didn’t suit him at all.

“When will you be next though?” Harry turned to the redhead the first time.

“We make a good team. We know that. You, me and Hermione.”

“Hermione, you and me,” the witch corrected, which earned eye rolls from eve the Marauders. “He’s right though.”

“We made a good team, too.” Harry said quietly. “Sirius and me.”

“You had.” Hermione agreed. “And he loved you, Harry. He died knowing you. He died knowing you know the truth.”

“It wasn’t enough.” Harry was now on the verge of crying. “He was the only one left.”

“I’m sorry, Harry. I wish I could make this better for you.”

“Yeah.” Harry sniffed, but allowed Hermione to hug him tightly.

“Hey, we’re missing dinner.” Ron piped up after a few respectable seconds. Hermione and Harry pulled away, laughing weakly and watery, but laughing nonetheless.

“Yeah, you need to eat.” Hermione told Harry, still holding his shoulders. “Remus is a werewolf, so he can take wasting away, but you’re not, so let’s go.” As the trio walked past them, back to the Great Hall, the Marauders pulled behind the column more so they couldn’t be seen in the dark of the half-lit castle. As soon as the trio’s footsteps faded, they pulled apart and for a moment none of them could say a word. Then they came stumbling out of their mouths.

“I’m dead—”

“They know I’m—”

“I have a son—”

“Peter killed someone—”

“Where am I?”

“What?” The comments stopped at James’ question.

“They talk about you two like they know you, but none of them even mentioned me.”

“Maybe you’re not part of whatever this is.” Remus said, but it didn’t sound convincing even to him.

“Or maybe you just didn’t come up. Come on, I’m the one who bloody died!” Sirius complained, mainly to draw attention away from James’ dark thoughts. Remus frowned.

“They know my secret.” He said too, which made the others look to him.

“He’s my _son_ , Remus.” James said with so much emphasis that Remus had to look up at him. He looked serious, which, with the bunch of them, was pretty rare. “You don’t think I’d raise him to be quite an open-minded lad who has to have no problem with his uncle Moony being a werewolf, would you?” He almost sounded offended. At the end, Remus smiled weakly at him.

“Yeah. And with the lot of us being there for him, I bet he’s the smartest wizard around, no matter what he thinks.” Sirius joked, which made his friends smile, but there was no good humor lost there. They came here to see the future, see if Dumbledore was still headmaster, to see who was teaching Defense, maybe see if their portraits were hanging on the walls. It was all for a good laugh, but none of them laughed now. They didn’t expect this.

“Did they say Peter killed someone?” James frowned, as if he just realized that.

“Right?!” Sirius pointed at his friend.

“Yeah. They said this Ron lad was a toddler, so he couldn’t prevent it. I wonder who was it.”

“Oooh, maybe it was Snivellius.” Sirius grinned, but immediately met two fire-y gazes.

“Sirius!” Remus and James shouted in unison. “This isn’t funny.” Remus continued. “Making fun of Snape is one thing, wishing him dead is another.”

“You’re right.” Sirius frowned. “What’s next? Jimmy has a son, I wonder if I have one too.”

“Ew!” James frowned, then looked at his friend sheepish. “Sorry, but you’re no father-material.”

“Why, are _you_?” Sirius threw back.

“Obviously,” James sent him a flat look, extending his hand towards the stairs where Harry and his friends disappeared to.

“Well, if you could do it, so can I.” Sirius shrugged. “We could sneak into the headmaster’s office, see if he keeps those reports he has about us.”

“No, I—” Remus started, but Sirius cut him off.

“I’m starving anyways. We better go to have dinner,” Sirius said, frowning. Just as they neared the Great Hall, James stopped them with a hand on their arms.

“Wait. Where are we going to sit?”

“What do you mean? To where we always.” Sirius looked and felt confused.

“No, we can’t,” drawled in on Remus as well.

“Why?”

“Because my bloody son is a Gryffindor, Sirius, that’s why.” James sighed frustrated. “There’s no way we can sit there and not get recognized.”

“Oh. Right.” Sirius thought about it, taking stock of their robes. “Hey, Rem, you know that charm to change clothing colors, right?”

“Yeah?” Remus answered uncertain where Sirius is going with it.

“Make us Ravenclaw.”

“What? Why Ravenclaw?” James frowned.

“Because I’m not about to be bloody Slytherin or Hufflepuff.”

“What’s wrong with Hufflepuff?” James went on, not even stopping to question Slytherin, of course Sirius wouldn’t be.

“What? What’s wrong with Ravenclaw? Hell of a better choice than Hufflepuff if you ask me. At least they’ll know we’re not to be messed with.”

“I resent that, Hufflepuffs are fine.”

“No, Tori Gibbons is fine, alright, just because she happens to be Hufflepuff doesn’t make Hufflepuff great.” Sirius’ eyes narrowed. “Besides, since when are you into Tori Gibbons? Thought Evans was the ultimate goal here.”

“Hey she is! Can’t I just enjoy myself in the meantime?” James pouted.

“Boys.” Remus cleared his throat, gesturing around his neck. “How’s it look?” he asked, and Sirius grinned, looking at him.

“Okay, I’m making a new argument. Ravenclaw because blue really is Moony’s color.”

“Alright, can’t argue with that.” James admitted, remembering yellow eyes on Remus, trying not to think of how Hufflepuff’s yellow would look on him. Like a constant werewolf-threat at least to those who knew his secret. Yeah, no thanks.

“Do me.” Sirius grinned coyly, pulling his robes to the side so instead of his tie, his whole shirt-covered chest was on display while he threw his head back, as if he was _enjoying_ himself. James made a show-gagging sound, then watched as Sirius’ robes turn Ravenclaw. Then he was next and frowned.

“Okay, can _I_ be Hufflepuff? I mean both of you look fine, but blue is _really_ not _my_ color.”

“Oh, bloody peacock, get a move on,” Sirius rolled his eyes, shoving at his friend until he stumbled inside, followed by Remus and Sirius. They claimed a seat along the first-years, pushing and elbowing them away so they can eat.

“For Merlin’s sake you two wouldn’t know subtle if it hit you in the balls.” Remus rolled his eyes as he much more gently lowered himself to the bench. Nobody paid them any mind, which was nice, but strange.

“To be fair, I wouldn’t even know my own name if anything hit me in the balls.” Sirius said, pulling a plate – certainly not his – in front of him. The first-year who so far had been eating off of said plate threw him a dirty look, but then turned away from them.

“What, they dropped?” James grinned. “Finally, I thought the day would never come.”

“Oi! Bugger off!” Sirius threw a piece of bread at James, who just kept laughing. “I’ll tell your son about first-year, when you pissed—”

“Gentlemen!” Remus looked at the teacher’s table pointedly, but quickly looked away. “I think we should just eat in peace. Then after we need to figure out a plan.”

“Plans are for losers, Moony.” Sirius rolled his eyes, but then shut up and ate. They left with the rest of some first-grade Ravenclaws, slipping into their common rooms, then claimed a whole sofa for themselves.

“We need to figure out how we leave.” Remus said as they settled, while Sirius almost laid on the sofa, rubbing his belly.

“No, we need to figure out where we will sleep. I think we should figure the rest tomorrow.” James said with a scowl on his face. Before Remus could protest, he closed his eyes and rubbed his temple. Remus frowned at him.

“Alright there?” he asked, and James waved a hand at him.

“My head’s been killing me since we got here. I can’t really think right now.”

“Same.” Sirius commented lazily. Remus’ frown deepened.

“I’m feeling fine. You sure it’s—”

“You probably don’t feel it because of the _Thing_.” Sirius said, looking over at Remus. “But I have this…”

“Buzzing in your ear?” James asked and Sirius nodded weakly. “Yeah, me too. I think it’s the spell. I feel like I could sleep it off.”

“Okay.” Remus nodded quietly. “Where do we sleep then?”

“Here?” Sirius pointed towards the dorms. Remus frowned again.

“Did you forget there’s not enough beds?”

“Oh!” Sirius sat up, pointing at Remus.

“Oh?” James echoed weakly, opening his eyes.

“I know. Come on.” He jumped up and marched to the dorms. Remus and James followed him rather confused. Sirius barged in as if he owned the place, picking an empty bed and dropping down to it. They could hear the rest of Ravenclaw arriving outside. “Quick, sit!” Sirius hissed at his friends, who complied slowly. First-years came into the room, talking loudly amongst themselves until they saw the three boys.

“Uh, that’s our beds.” Piped up one of them a little hesitantly.

“Now, boy, how old do you think we are?” Sirius sat up and looked at the boy, who shrugged. “See, we’re sixth-years.” He said proudly. The first-years looked at each other. “That being said, we know more than you, how things work. Have you ever heard of the initiation ritual?”

“Uh, no?” The one who spoke earlier said.

“Well, you see, every first-year need to get through this. There’re three challenges you need to go through. Are you ready?” He stood, crossing his arms across his chest with his chin raised.

“Uh…”

“I said: are you ready?!” He almost shouted and the first years cringed.

“Bloody hell, Sirius.” Muttered Remus as he rubbed his ear. Sirius frowned at him, then turned back to the kids, who nodded, expression scared.

“Right. First challenge is to collect a rare berry called Midnight Spike from the Forbidden Forest. The second—”

“But we can’t go into the Forbidden Forest.” One of the kids argued. Sirius glared at him.

“It wouldn’t be a challenge if it was easy, would it? Fine, then, I’ll tell you the last: don’t get caught. Now, onto the second one, which is to go to the Shrieking Shack and write your name on one of the walls with an invisible spell.” The first years looked at each other and Sirius stepped closer to them. “Those who do not finish the challenges will get shit for the rest of their stay here, understood?!”

“Yes!” one of them cried.

“Go on then! Off you go, off you go!” He waved them off. “And don’t think about returning! We’ll be here!” The kids turned on their heels and scrambled off. Once all of them were out of the room, Sirius turned to James and Remus with a smug grin. “See?”

“You’re a knobhead, Sirius.” Remus, rolled his eyes, but didn’t protest too much as all of them got under their covers and promptly fell asleep in seconds. They woke up in their own time, their visit to the future unknown to everyone around them.

**Author's Note:**

> I wish this was better and a full, finished story, preferably 20k long or something, but I really don't have the inspiration for it. I thought I'd share anyways, because I still think it's fun.
> 
> I'm not a native English speaker, all my mistakes are my own.


End file.
